Date: 08. – 13. April 2024

Place: Section 3.3 „Earth Surface Geochemistry“, GFZ Potsdam

Registration: Until 15. Nov. 2023 with Dr. Patrick Frings: patrick.frings@gfz-potsdam.de

Short entry exam: (For FU students) 20.12. 2023, 16:00 E209 at GFZ Potsdam, FU students please also enrol online in FU “Campusmanagement” at the beginning of the Sommersemester.

Participants:                about 12

Course language:       English

CreditPoints: 6 LP

Fees: None. DMG members can obtain a travel grant of €100.–

Course methods: Lectures and simple calculation practicals of isotope fractionation. Practicals in the clean laboratory and with the mass spectrometer.

Prerequisites: BSc in Geosciences, Chemistry, or Physics. Basics in analytical chemistry, basics of stable isotopes geochemistry, good knowledge of fundamental math and physics.

Topics: We explore the so-called „non-traditional“ stable isotopes, of which the minor shifts by isotope fractionation have been made detectable by multicollector ICP-mass spectrometry. These are for example the elements lithium, magnesium, silicon, calcium or iron. We will address the following topics:

• Why do isotopes shift their relative abundances? Principles of mass-dependent isotope fractionation. Isotope fractionation during precipitation, mineral dissolution, weathering, uptake by higher plants, biomedical applications, the hydrosphere, and paleo-climate. Basics of MC-ICP-mass spectrometry: sample preparation, ionisation, ion optics and mass separation, detection systems, laser ablation, data evaluation
• Lectures will alternate with conducting a real-life experiment on the mass spec and in the clean lab.

Further information : Friedhelm von Blanckenburg: f.v.b@fu-berlin.de